Eastern Mindoro College

BONGABONG, ORIENTAL MINDORO

Tel. No.(043)-283-5479; email_1945 @ yahoo.com
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT

NAME: COURSE:

DATE: THE TEACHER & THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM ROOM:

CONTACT NO. INSTRUCTOR: MR. MAGTIBAY

EMAIL ADD: RATING:

CHAPTER 1: CURRICULUM ESSENTIALS

MODULE 2: THE TEACHER AS A KNOWER OF CURRICULUM
LESSON 2.1: THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM: DEFINITION, NATURE AND SCOPE
WEEK 3 , 3 HOURS
I. FOCUS:
In this module, challenge yourself to:
• Define curriculum from different perspectives
• Describe the nature and scope of curriculum

II. INTRODUCTION: Module 2 describes the school curriculum in terms of its definition, its nature
and scope, which are needed by the teacher as a knower. This module provides a wider perspective
for the teachers about the curriculum, in terms of curriculum approach, curriculum development
process, some curriculum models and the foundations upon which curriculum is anchored.

III. STRATEGIES
A. ACTIVITY: TURN UP YOUR KNOWLEDGE

TODAY’S HEADLINES

1.DepEd Reviews the K to 12 Curriculum

2.Suicide incidence in Schools has Become Alarming
3.Teachers are Reluctant to Try New Things in the Curriculum
4.Co-curricular Activities: Learning Opportunities or Distractions?
5.The Use of IGT Gains Ground in the Public Schools

What can you say of these headlines/ Do these reflect what are going on in our schools? Should the
public know and be involved in the schooling of their citizens? What are the implications of each headline
to the classroom curriculum?

Page 1 of 5
 THE TEACHER AND THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM

Each member of society seems to view school curriculum differently, hence there are varied
demands on what schools should do and what curriculum should be taught. Some would demand reducing
content and shifting emphasis to development of lifelong skills. Others feel that development of character
has been placed at the back seat of some schools. More debates are emerging on the use of languages
in the classroom. Should it be mother tongue, the national language or the global language?

There seems to be confusion about what curriculum should really be. To have a common
understanding of what curriculum really is, this lesson will present some definitions as given by authors.
Likewise, you will find in this lesson the description of the nature and scope of curriculum from several
points of view. This lesson will also explain how curriculum is being approached. It further shows a
development process as a concept and as a process as applied to school curriculum.

B. ANALYSIS/ABSTRACTION AND GENERALIZATION

GEAR UP YOUR MIND!

Highlights:
➢ LESSON 2.1: THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM: DEFINITION, NATURE
AND SCOPE

Oftentimes curriculum is taken in its narrow view as a listing of subjects to be taught in schools
or sometimes it is understood broadly as all learning experiences that individuals undergo while in school.
We cannot deny the fact that curriculum from should be clarified by teachers and other stakeholders.
Curriculum affects all teachers, students, parents, politicians, businessmen, professionals, government
officials or even the common people.

Like many concepts in education, there seems to be no common definition of ‘curriculum’. Because
of this, the concept of curriculum is sometimes characterized as fragmentary, elusive and confusing.
However, the word originates from the Latin word currere referring to the oval track upon which Roman
Chariots raced. The New International Dictionary defines curriculum as the whole body of a course in an
educational institution or by a department while the Oxford English Dictionary defines curriculum with the
syllabus while a few regards it as all the teaching-learning experiences which the student encounters while
in school. Numerous definitions indicate dynamism which connotes diverse interpretations as influenced
by modes of thoughts, pedagogies, philosophies, political as well as cultural perspectives. Here are some
of them,

Some Definitions of Curriculum

1. Curriculum is a planned and guided set of learning experiences and intended outcomes, formulated
through the systematic reconstruction of knowledge and experiences under the auspices of the
school, for the learners’ continuous and willful growth in personal social competence.” (Daniel
Tanner, 1980)

2. It is a written document that systematically describes goals planned, objectives, content, learning
activities, evaluation procedures and so forth. (Pratt, 1980)
2

Enriching Minds of Champions

 THE TEACHER AND THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM

3. The contents of a subject, concepts and tasks to be acquired, planned activities, the desired learning
outcomes and experiences, product of culture and an agenda to reform society make up a curriculum.
(Schubert, 1987)

4. A curriculum includes “all of the experiences that individual learners have in a program of education
whose purpose is to achieve broad goals and related specific objectives, which is planned in terms
of a framework of theory and research or past and present professional practice.” (Hass, 1987)

5. It is a programme of activities (by teachers and pupils) designed so that pupils will attain o far as
possible certain educational and other schooling ends or objectives. (Grundy, 1987)

6. It is a plan that consists of learning opportunities for a specific time frame and place, a tool that aims
to bring about behavior changes in students as a result of planned activities and includes all learning
experiences received by students with the guidance of the school. (Goodland and Su, 1992)

7. It provides answers to three questions: 1. What knowledge, skills and value are most worthwhile? 2.
Why are they most worthwhile? 3. How should the young acquire them? (Cronbeth, 1992)

Some Points of View of Other Curricularist

Since the concepts and meaning of curriculum are shaped by a person’s point of view, this has
added to fragmentation, and some confusion. However when put together, the different from diverse points
of view, would describe curriculum as dynamic and perhaps ever changing.

Points of view about the curriculum can either be traditional or progressive according to the person’s
philosophical, psychological and even psychological orientations. These views can also define what a
curriculum is all about.

Curriculum from Traditional Points of View

The traditional points of view of curriculum were advanced by Robert Hutchins, Arthur Bestor, and
Joseph Schwab.

• Robert M. Hutchins views curriculum as “permanent studies” where rules of grammar, reading,
rhetoric, logic and mathematics for basic education are emphasized. The 3Rs (Reading, Writing,
“rithmetic) should be emphasized in basic education while liberal education should be the emphasis
in college.
• Arthur Bestor as an essentialist believes that the mission of the school should be intellectual
training, hence curriculum should focus on the fundamental intellectual disciplines of grammar,
literature and writing. It should include mathematics, science, history and foreign language.
• Joseph Schwab thinks that sole sources of curriculum is discipline, thus the subject areas such as
Science, Mathematics, Social Studies, English and many more. In college, academic disciplines are
labelled as humanities, sciences, languages, mathematics among others. He coined the word
discipline as a ruling doctrine for curriculum development.
3

Enriching Minds of Champions

 THE TEACHER AND THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM

• Philip Phenix asserts that curriculum should consists entirely of knowledge which comes from
various disciplines.

Collectively from the traditional b=view of theorists like Hutchins, Schwab, Bestor,
and Phenix, curriculum can be defined as a field of historical, philosophical and social issues. From a
traditional view, curriculum is mostly written documents such syllabus, course of study, books and
references where knowledge is found but is used as a means to accomplish intended goals.

Curriculum from Progressive Points of View

On the pther hand, a listing of school subjects, syllabi, course of study, and specific discipline does
not make a curriculum is the total learning experiences of the individual. Let us look into how curriculum is
defined from a progressive point of view.

• John Dewey believes that education is experiencing. Reflective thinking is a mean that unifies
curricular elements that are tested by application.
• Holin Caswell and Kenn Campbell viewed curriculum as all experiences children have under the
guidance of teachers.
• Othaniel Smith, William Stanley and Harlan Shore likewise defined curriculum as a sequence of
potential experiences, set up in schools for the purpose of disciplining children and youth in group
ways of thinking and acting.
• Collin Marsh and George Willis also viewed curriculum as all the xperiences in the classroom
which are planned and enacted by the teacher and also learned by the students.

The nature of curriculum has given rise to many interpretations, depending on a person’s
philosophical beliefs. Let us put all of these interpretations in a summary.

CURRICULUM is what is taught in school, a set of subjects, a content, a program of studies, a set
of materials, a sequence of courses, a set of performance objectives, everything that goes within the school.
It is what is taught inside and outside of school directed by the teacher, everything planned by school, a
series of experiences undergone by learners in school or what individual learner experiences as a result of
a school. In short, curriculum is the total experiences of the learner under the guidance of the teacher.

APPLICATION 1. BOOST UP YOUR LEARNING!

Take Action

Activity 1 – Traditional or Progressive: What is your View or Curriculum?

1. What is your own definition of a curriculum? Write down your answer in the space provided.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________

Enriching Minds of Champions

 THE TEACHER AND THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM

2. Do you have a traditional view of a curriculum, a progressive view or both? Explain your view
based on your definition.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Self-Check
Label the description/definition on the left with either Traditional (T), or Progressive (P).

No. Description (T) (P)

1 Teachers are required to teach the book from cover to cover.

2 If the learners can memorize the content, then the curriculum is best.
3 Children are given opportunity to play outdoors.
4 Parents send children to a military type school with rigid discipline.
5 Teachers are reluctant to teach beyond the written curriculum
6 Prerequisites to promotion for the next grade are skills in reading. Writing and
arithmetic only.
7 Teachers provide varied experiences for the children.
8 Learning can only be achieved in schools.
9 It is the systematic arrangement of contents in the course syllabus.
10 Co-curricular activities are planned for all to participate.

Self-Reflect
Pick up a daily newspaper and read today’s headline. Choose one and reflect on this headline that
relates to curriculum and to your becoming a curricularist. Write your answer in at least two paragraphs.
______________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________

Prepared by:
MR. JAYMAR B. MAGTIBAY
Instructor
5

Enriching Minds of Champions